


The Wants of a Young Demigod Heart

by csbrown_writing123



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26357758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csbrown_writing123/pseuds/csbrown_writing123
Summary: My name is Merrily Evans. I used to be a regular 15-year-old girl living in New York. Then I met the two boys that would soon change my life.Join Merrily Evans as she navigates a risky love triangle, ventures on a quest, and deals with your average teenage drama.
Relationships: Leo Valdez/Original Character(s), Nico di Angelo/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 3





	1. Why is This My Life

Merrily POV

\---------------------------

I hurried out of my house, narrowly dodging a Jack Daniels bottle aimed at my head. Luckily, school isn't very far away so I don't need anyone to drive me. Wait, hold up. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Merrily Evans. I am a fourteen-year-old, currently attending Liberty High School. It's only two weeks away from summer and I'm dreading it. I am a little short at five foot two and I have long, wavy blonde hair that I like to style in complicated braids. My eyes are gray-blue, which I've been told is a pretty color. I have been labeled as ADHD and dyslexic. I enjoy finding problems in old military strategies, the National Geographic Channel, and Greek mythology. I don't have any friends and my father is a baker during the day and alcoholic and abusive by night. Don't even get me started on my mom.

Anyway, as I'm walking to school, I get the feeling that something or someone is following me. I turn to look behind me, but nothing is there. I grab my books from my locker, ignoring the disgusting slurping sounds coming from the locker next to mine. Why can't Lana and that poor, unfortunate boy make out someplace else? I run from homeroom to my favorite class of the day, Greek mythology, taught by Mr. Avon. His classes are always so much fun! Once, we all acted out parts of the Giant War. Today, though, Mr. Avon was a few minutes late. When he finally arrived, he had two new kids trailing behind him.

The first boy gave off a feeling of dark power, which I found oddly attractive. He had raven black hair, dark brown eyes, and pale skin. He was short and thin at what I guessed to be around five foot six. The boy was wearing a black shirt with a skull on it, black jeans, black, torn up Converse and an Aviator's jacket. He was looking darkly around at everyone, his eyes stopping on me. When he saw me looking at him, his cheeks turned a light pink and he started twisting his skull ring.

The next boy made me want to yell "look out!". He looked like a Latino elf. He had curly brown hair and slightly pointed ears. He was about the same height as Skull Boy, and scrawny, though his baggy clothes seemed to hide it slightly. This boy was wearing a white button-down shirt with grease stains all over it with a pair of brown trousers held up by red suspenders. On his feet, he wore brown work boots. All-in-all he resembled a mechanic. All he needed was a tool belt to finish up the look. His eyes darted around the classroom furtively, stopping on me for a few seconds longer. His fingers were tapping out a strange pattern on his pants.

"Class, meet Leo Valdez and Nico di Angelo," Mr. Avon says, gesturing to each boy as he said their names. "Leo, you can take that seat next to Merrily and Nico, there's a seat by that window." Skull Boy, now known as Nico, skulked to his seat and averted his eyes from the window like he was allergic to sunlight. Leo bounds down the aisle and plops himself down in the seat next to mine.

As Mr. Avon begins talking, Leo pulls out various small items. These include wires, springs, pipe cleaners, washers, small screws, what looks like a pair of dismantles eyeglasses and a tiny watch repair kit. His fingers begin moving quickly as he begins to construct a tiny something right before my eyes.

I must have been staring because a few minutes later, Leo gives me a sideways look and says with a mischievous grin, "Close your mouth or you'll catch flies."

I quickly snap my mouth shut. "Why do you have all that stuff?"

"It helps keep me focused," is his reply. Leo pulls out tiny scraps of metal and a few hinges and turns back to his project before I can say anything else.

Suddenly, Lana Miller, a popular girl taps me on the shoulder while Mr. Avon's back is turned. "Merrily, right?" she asks, her voice honey sweet. "I think we should be friends. How about you come over to my house?" A warm feeling washes over me and for some reason, I want to be best friends with this girl and go to her house right away.

However, before I can answer, a warm, calloused hand grabs mine, snapping me out of my trance. I feel tingles running up and down my spine. Leo's face didn't look so buoyant and happy now. Instead, it was deadly serious.

"Actually, Merrily has plans," he says stiffly. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice one of Lana's posse hitting on Nico in the corner. Is that a knife?

"What plans?" Lana asks indignantly.

"We have a date," Leo says, his voice wavering ever so slightly.

"Excuse me?" I protest. "I never agr--" Leo squeezed my hand tightly, causing me to stop talking.

"Do you want to die?" he asks?

What kind of question is that? "Of course not!"

"Then follow my lead."

"A date you say?" Lana frowns.

"Yep," Nico says, coming up behind me. How did he get away from that girl? "I'll be third-wheeling."

"Well, how about I keep you company, Nico?" Lana croons. I gag. Leo snickers. Nico frowns.

"That's okay Lana," he says. "I'll just read or something. Or eat cheese fries." I love cheese fries. Why is this relevant? Whatever. Lana moves next to Nico, letting a perfectly manicured nail run down his jawline seductively. I feel a twinge of jealousy.

Suddenly, Leo jumps. "Is that a bird?" I look up. Sure enough, a mechanical bird is flying in loops around the classroom. It dives down and begins pecking at Lana mercilessly.

"C'mon!" Nico yells. "Run!" But I can't run. I watch as Leo shoots a stream of flames from his hand and incinerates Lana. I'm frozen. Fire.... heat.... Nico grabs my hand and pulls me out of the classroom with Leo close behind. We burst out of the doors and continue running until we reach my house.

My house is actually an apartment above a bakery. My father owns it. Nobody notices the fact that my father is usually hungover, which annoys me. Nico, Leo, and I burst through the doors. I hold my side, panting uncontrollably. But Nico and Leo aren't even tired.

When I finally catch my breath I ask, "What was that back there?"

"Oh, that?" Leo says. "Um, Nico, you can do the honors."

Nico rolls his eyes and fixes me with a stare. "So you know about the Greek gods and stuff?"

"Duh," is my intelligent answer.

"Well they all exist," he says. "And you're a demigod."

"Well, there's only one problem with that explanation," I frown. "Demigods aren't real."

"Actually, they are," Leo says slightly apologetically. "My father is Hephestus and Nico's dad is Hades. We're here to take you to a place called Camp Half-Blood so monsters like Lana can't attack you."

"Woah, I know Lana's mean, but 'monster' is maybe a bit harsh?" I say.

"Nope," Nico says. "Lana was an empousa. They are female monsters that usually go after boys and try to seduce them into kissing them so they can eat their flesh. Often times, they use one of their powers; charmspeak."

My head is reeling. So I do what I do when there's too much information to process. I clear out all of my excess thoughts and focus on the main subjects.

"Let me go get my things," I say finally. "Anywhere is better than here. Also, help yourselves to anything you want." I run upstairs, tiptoeing past my father's bedroom. I grab a duffel bag and empty most of my closet into it. Five minutes later, I drag my bag downstairs, back to the bakery. Which is practically cleaned out.

"What the heck!" I cry. Nico and Leo's faces are covered in jelly, sugar, and cinnamon, and most of my father's stock is gone.

"Well, you said to help ourselves to anything we want," Leo says innocently, his mouth seemingly full of pastry. I see Nico tuck a sugar cookie into his pocket.

"I know, but I meant maybe one or two things!" I frown. "Not the whole store! My father will kill me!"

"Good thing you'll probably never see him again," Nico says, giving me a small half-smile and taking a bite out of a cinnamon roll. I roll my eyes.

"Let's go," I say. "How're we getting there?"

Leo stuffs more food into his pockets before answering. "We'll walk. I'm too lazy to fly Festus and Nico's doctor has forbidden him to shadow travel."

"Shadow travel?" I ask.

Nico cuts himself a slice of cake. "It's a form of transportation that can only be used by children of Hades or Pluto."

"Oh." Leo ducks behind the counter and comes back up with several to-go bags and plastic containers. Five minutes later, my father's store has been wiped of everything except anything with raisins, fruit, or oats.

So, toting our bags, we hail a taxi. Nico tells it to stop at the edge of a large blue farmhouse with strawberry fields. Nico and Leo grab their pastry bags and with me close behind them, hurry down the hill towards the farmhouse.

"Look out!" I hear Nico yell. I look behind me and there stands a giant hydra. I scream and run for the farmhouse, Nico and Leo not far behind. Just a few feet before the farmhouse, I feel myself passing through a cool barrier. I turn around a smile on my face. But it quickly fades. Nico is lying on the ground, with blood pooling around his face, and Leo trying but failing to ward off the hydra.

I drop my duffel onto the ground and with no expertise whatsoever, I grab a random sword off the ground and charge.

"Merrily, no!" Leo shouts, but I ignore him. I swing the sword up and succeed in slicing off one of its heads. Only to have two more grow in its place. So, I tuck the sword under my arm and grab Nico's limp body and begin dragging it towards the barrier. Leo comes up and helps me. Behind us, four other teenagers with weapons come to help us; two boys and two girls. One boy had black hair and sea-green eyes. He is tall and lanky and carries a long bronze sword. The second boy had floppy golden hair and blue eyes. He has no weapon, but a tiny plastic baggie and a canteen. The first girl has blonde, curly hair and gray eyes. She carries a long, bronze dagger. The other girl has medium-length, choppy brown hair and looks like a Cherokee Indian. I can't get a fix on what color her eyes were.

"Will!" Leo calls. "Nico needs medical attention." The blonde-haired boy rushes over with his plastic bag and canteen. We carry Nico back through the barrier. After gently laying him on the ground, the blonde boy, now known as will, pours a few drops of golden liquid from the canteen into Nico's mouth. Nico's eyes flutter open as his head wound begins to close.

"Here," Will says, handing Nico a small brown pastry. While Nico nibbles on the pastry, I turn my eyes to the war waging on the hydra. The tan-skinned girl seems to be talking the hydra to sleep. The second the hydra falls over, the raven-haired boy swamps it in water, clearly drowning the creature. As soon as it turns into gold dust, I turn my eyes back to the blue house and strawberry fields. Only now, there's a giant forest there.

"C'mon, let's get to camp," Nico says, getting shakily to his feet. "I have to train more."

"Oh no you don't," Will admonishes him. "I am sentencing you to two days of bed rest!"

Nico pouts, which looks absolutely adorable. "Two days?" he whines.

"One if you're good," Will grins. Nico literally looks like a puppy when he says this. Leo snickers. Suddenly, Puppy Nico is nowhere to be found.

"Can it firehead," he frowns. Leo grins.

"Okay Merrily," Leo says. "Meet the rest of the crew. This is Percy," he gestures to the raven-haired boy. "This is Piper." Tan girl. "And this is Annabeth." Blonde girl.

"Hi," I say shyly.

"Hey!" Percy says. "Let's get you to Camp Half-Blood. Leo here can give you a tour since Nico won't be available." Nico scowls, but his eyes are twinkling, so I know he's only kidding. I grab my duffel and Leo carries the pastry bags. As we walk over the hill, we pass a giant pine tree with a golden fleece and a dragon. Somehow, this doesn't freak me out. At this point, golden sheepskins and dragons are the least of my worries.

We pass the tree and come out in a large selection of cabins, all vastly different from one another. One of the cabins is all black. One has seashells and stuff all over it. One is rather practical and has books all over the front porch. I rather like that one. We bypass all of those and stop at a cabin whose porch is extremely messy, so I have to watch my step.

"You'll be staying here for the time being," Leo explains as Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Nico, and Will walk off. "This is the Hermes cabin. New demigods stay here until their godly parent claims them." Before opening the door, Leo gives me a warning. "Look out for the Stoll brothers. Real tricksters those two." I nod my head seriously as Leo opens the door.

Inside is very crowded and slightly messy. Tons of campers mill around talking and laughing. I'm pretty sure I saw a neat stack of tomatoes, but I wasn't entirely sure.

"Hey," a boy with brown hair and an upturned nose comes up to us. "This a newbie?"

"Yep," Leo says. "Merrily Evans. She just needs a spot to sleep and then I'll continue the tour."

The boy leads us over to a rather cozy corner on the floor. "Here," he says. "I'll get you a sleeping bag and anything else you need before we turn in for the night." I set my duffel down.

"By the way," I say. "I never got your name."

"Travis Stoll," he says, extending a hand. Leo slaps my hand away.

"Trap," he says. I look up at him confused.

"Trap?" I say.

Leo nods. "Yup," he says. "One of my powers is that I can sense traps and Travis here had one of those electric things on his hand."

I look up at Travis. "Seriously dude?" I say. Travis has the grace to look slightly guilty. Leo and I quickly leave. We walk through the camp and Leo points out everything of interest: the dining pavilion, the cabins, the climbing wall, the strawberry fields, the training arena, and the list goes on.

A horn blares out. "That'll be the dinner horn," Leo says. "You'll eat with the Hermes cabin."

"Okay." I walk over to where who I think is Travis is sitting. Only, this Travis is slightly smaller. "Woah, are you Travis's twin or something?" I ask.

"Nah, I'm Connor," he says.

"I'm Merrily," I say. "How do we get food?"

"Just picture your absolute favorite meal," Connor instructs. I close my eyes and picture a delicious bowl of coconut lime soup and a steaming plate of rice. 

"Open your eyes," Connor says. I open my eyes. There is a.... half plate of soup and rice? Then I look at Connor's plate and find the other half of my food.

"Connor!" I protest. Connor doesn't answer and leads me over to some brass bowls with fire. I freeze. Fire.

"Hey, are you okay?" Connor asks, snapping me out of my trance.

"Uh yeah," I say. "Do I just burn some?"

"You learn quickly my little grasshopper," Conner grins. I scrape part of my food into the bowl, trying to ignore the waves of heat emitting from the bowl. I whisper a silent prayer and then go back to my seat. I quickly imagine up some more food and eat it before Connor has the chance to steal it.

Then the room goes silent as a.... woah is that a centaur? Connor later tells me his name is Chiron and he runs the camp now that Mr. D is back at Olympus.

"I hope you all have had a very enjoyable afternoon," the centaur says. "Tonight's game will be Capture the Flag!" The room erupts in cheers. "Team Red will be Posioden, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Apollo, and Hermes and Team Blue will be Aphrodite, Hades, Iris, Hypnos, Nike, Hecate, and Tyche. "

Just great. I'll be competing against Nico. Everyone in the dining pavilion disperses and heads off to go get ready. Connor leads me over to the armory.

"Okay, so why don't you pick out your armor and weapons and get dressed?" Connor says and then leaves me alone. The first thing I do is braid my hair into a fabulous, intricate braid. Then I try to find some form of armor that I can move in, but there is none. So I just strap on some wrist protectors and wrap some duct tape around my tank top under my shirt. A small, silver and bronze dagger catches my eye, so I strap that to my waist. Then, it's time for Capture the Flag.

I get stuck on river patrol. Nobody comes across me until about ten minutes into the game. Then I run into Nico. He seems to emerge from the darkness. I can't see behind him. He makes to fight me but pauses.

"Um, h-hi Merrily," he stutters. "Could I pass? Please?" At this point, Nico is redder than a tomato.

"Not a chance," I grin, and make to knock him out with the butt of my knife, but before I can a sword slices through Nico's abdomen and I see a tall, broad figure sprint away through the woods. "Nico!" I cry as he slumps to the ground. I catch him before he falls. "Help!" I yell. "Nico's hurt! Help me!"

Nico's eyes are glazed and half-closed. I hold my hand over the wound to try and stop the bleeding, all the while, screaming for help and coaxing Nico at the same time. The horn blows to signal someone has won, but I barely notice. Why is no one hearing me? I give up calling.

I pick up Nico bridal style and sling him over my shoulders, his blood running down my neck. Somehow, I know the right thing to do is to get him to the infirmary. I make my way quickly, and silently through the forest until I come upon the wooden building. I drop Nico, who is barely breathing, on one of the beds, and go to search for some nectar. I can't feed him anything right now.

I find some nearby and hurry back to his side. I pour three drops into his mouth. The wound begins to close. Another drop. Nico's breathing evens. Right then, Will bursts in the door and begins assessing the situation. I gather I am no longer needed here and hurry back to where the rest of the camp is. Chiron seemingly isn't aware of Nico's condition as he talks on the podium. I stride up the steps and Chiron quickly backs away. The crowd falls silent.

"Who stabbed Nico?" My voice is deathly calm. "Whoever did, I will find you and I will make you suffer if you do not come forward right now." A brown-haired girl with a stocky figure and who is, honestly, quite ugly, steps forward.

"I stabbed the little brat," she spat. "Whatcha gonna do? Stab me back?"

"I challenge you to a duel," I say, not thinking. "Loser is at the mercy of the winner for the next three weeks." The girl grins.

"Deal." I jump off the podium and the crowd parts so that the girl and I are standing alone in the circle.

My dagger is pathetically small compared to the girl's sword, but I'm not worried. I watch the girl's movements carefully and guess where she's about to aim. I block it and move around her arm, twisting my wrist precariously so that the butt of my dagger lands on the weak spot of her thumb. Her sword clatters to the ground.

"Remember our deal," I say. The group of campers, who had been cheering and/or jeering went silent. I was confused. Had I done something wrong? Then I notice the faint gray glow above my head. I look up and see a gray owl floating above my head.

"All hail Merrily Evans, Daughter of Athena, goddess of war and wisdom."


	2. A Daughter of Athena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merrily gets claimed.

Nico POV

\---------------

I open my eyes to find my best friend Will Solace standing over me. And oh Hades, my stomach hurts.

"What happened?" I ask.

Will frowns at me. "First off, you didn't stay in bed as I told you to. Second, Clarisse stabbed you from behind, while, according to her, you were staring at Merrily. Third, Merrily is now a daughter of Athena." At the last bit of news, I feel like crying.

Merrily is a daughter of Athena. For some reason, all the Athena kids besides Annabeth hate me. And I'm pretty sure Annabeth only likes me out of obligation from Percy. Will notices my crumpled face and puts a hand on my shoulder. I flinch.

"What's wrong Nico?" he asks gently.

I bury my face in a pillow. "Nothing." Tears start to fall down my face. I had really liked Merrily. As more than a friend. I should have never thought she'd like someone like me. Will's hand rests on my back.

"You like her don't you?"

"No," I answer stubbornly.

"Then explain why you're sobbing into your pillow," Will says.

"I am not sobbing into my pillow," I protest.

"Turn around," Will instructs. I shake my head. Will gently turns my body around to face him. I'm pretty sure my face is tear streaked by now. Will grins at me.

"I guess I like her," I mumble into my knees. "But this stays between us. Now is there anything on my face?"

"Besides tear streaks?" Will smiles. "Not much." He hands me a wet paper towel and I wipe down my face. "By the way, according to Percy, Merrily looked downright scary last night when she challenged poor Clarisse to a duel. She was practically drenched in your blood."

"Challenged Clarisse?" I ask incredulously. "Is she crazy?"

"Apparently so," Will says, lifting my shirt. "She disarmed her in twenty seconds flat, then got claimed by Athena." Will began undoing the dressing on my wound which still hurt like heck. There was a nice neat scar going down my abdomen which was still slightly red.

"It hurts," I groan as Will presses down on the wound.

"Well, I can't give you any more ambrosia," Will explains. "Which means a week of bed rest."

"A week!" I exclaim. "I can't stay in here for a week!" Will doesn't say anything, but he leaves. I huff and fold my arms then flinch because my stomach hurts. Suddenly, a giant flurry of colors flew into the room.

"Oh my goodness," Hazel squealed. "Piper Iris messaged me the second she found out! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Hazel," I say, trying to subtly see if Merrily was in the crowd. She wasn't. I tried to keep my face straight, but I could tell Hazel and Piper noticed. Percy, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, Leo, Annabeth and I all spent some time talking about generic things and one by one, everyone dispersed until it was just Piper, Hazel, and I.

"So," Piper smiles. "Who were you looking for earlier?"

"I wasn't looking for anyone," I frown, crossing my arms. I yank them down again because my stomach hurts.

"Sure you weren't," Hazel grins. "Maybe a certain daughter of Athena?"

"Who, Annabeth?" I ask innocently. "Why would I be looking for her?"

"Nice try," Piper says knowingly. "You were totally looking for Merrily."

"I was not and you can't prove it," I say, jutting my chin up. Piper and Hazel roll their eyes and grin. Soon after, the two girls leave and I'm left to myself. I stare at the ceiling. All I can think about is Merrily. She's just... I don't have any words. Her blue-grey eyes are usually always so happy and they almost look into your soul.

Later in the day, Will drops off my sketchpad and a pencil. I pick up the items and set to work. I outline the face first, then add in the features: a long intricate braid swimming over her back, with light curls framing her angular face. Perfectly shaped lips grace her pale face. Her hair accents her almond-shaped gray-blue eyes, eyebrows bringing out their vibrancy in color.

Then I begin to add in the background. Sketching in the tall trees and a gorgeous half-moon behind her, the image is finished. It's definitely one of my best, almost better than that one of Bianca. Merrily's features go perfectly with the eerie background of the forest.

Will comes back in. I quickly snap the sketchbook shut. "C'mon Nico," he says. "I gotta check that wound of yours." Will checks my wound, my temperature, and my heartbeat, which I don't see how that last one is relevant, but Will insists it is.

"Hey, Will," I say. "Do you have any colored pencils?"

"What for?" he asks.

"Well, maybe I want to color something in, ever think of that?" I say indignantly.

"Sure, okay!" Will grins. He leaves and a few minutes later, comes back with a bag of colored pencils. After he leaves, I begin shading in everything. Her hair, her eyes, her skin. When I'm done, I hold up the pad to admire it in the light. Perfect. Suddenly, I hear sounds. Angry sounds. I pull the covers up to protect my abdomen because that voice happens to sound like Clarisse.

The door bursts open to reveal an angry Clarisse with a smug looking Merrily perched on her back.

"What the...?" I say.

Merrily climbs down off of Clarisse. "She lost the duel," she says, by way of explanation. "You're free to go, Clarisse!" Clarisse scowls at me and leaves.

"So," Merrily smiles at me. "How're you doing?"

"Pretty good, you know, for a guy that just got stabbed," I say sardonically. Merrily laughs and a tingle goes up my back.

"Well, I'll have you know that I have avenged you," Merrily says. "On top of beating Clarisse at that duel, Chiron gave her two months helping in the infirmary and boys bathroom cleaning duty and 48 hours in the strawberry fields."

"Seriously?" I ask. "That's crazy!"

"Well, she did purposely stab you," Merrily says, tilting her head. "Oh yeah, apparently, I'm now scarier than Annabeth."

"That's crazy!" I grin slightly. "Annabeth is the scariest girl here!"

Merrily laughs again. "Who's the scariest boy? You?" Inside, my insides turn to mush. Great. Another person scared of me. Just fantastic. Merrily notices my face and immediately looks concerned. "Did I say something wrong?" she asks me.

"No, of course not," I want to say. "You could never do anything wrong. It's me that's the issue." But of course, I can't say that. So instead I say something more to the effect of, "Nope." Merrily looks doubtful, but I manage to give her a half smile. "Anyway, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, well, I've been getting to know my siblings and everything. Earlier, Annabeth showed me the training arena and we..." And on and on it went. I was happy with it that way. At least now I didn't have to talk as much. So I could think.

Now, don't get me wrong. If I have a crush on Merrily, shouldn't I be trying to build myself up and completely obsessing over every little thing she does and linking it to the fact that she might like me?

(A/N: MerrilyE you know what I'm talking about)

Well, I'm not your average teenage boy. I'm Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, socially awkward, and "that creepy kid by himself". And thus, this means that my chances with Merrily over there are seriously slim. I'm not about to try and kid myself that she might actually like me. If I'm lucky, we might be decent friends. But the most likely option is that we'll just be acquaintances. Once she gets newer, cooler, less socially awkward friends, she'll forget all about me. That's just how it goes.

"So, Nico," Merrily says, snapping me out of my reverie. "How do you plan to keep yourself occupied for a week?"

"I dunno," I say, shrugging slightly. "Maybe I'll read a book, eat cheese fries if Will'll let me, maybe read another book. After today, I honestly doubt I'll get any more visitors."

Merrily frowns. "Well then," she says haughtily. "I suppose I'll just have to visit you three times a day then."

"Three times a day?" I ask, my eyes going wide. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"Not at all," she smiles down at me. "You're much to antisocial for your age." I look down at the white coverings, which were currently concealing my sketchpad.

"What would we even talk about?" I ask. "I mean, I'm not that much of an interesting guy to talk to."

"I'm sure we'll find something," Merrily smirks. "Now, I will see you after dinner and I'll bring you some cheese fries too. But you'd better share."

"Share the cheese fries!" I exclaim. "Not a chance!" Merrily laughs and skips out the door. I flop back on my pillow and feel a goofy smile on my face. I quickly force it to go away though. Goofy smiles do not become a son of Hades. Suddenly, I have an idea.

After Merrily comes in for her evening visit with smuggled cheese fries, Will comes to take my vitals and everything and he gives me a healthy dose of teasing.

"Merrily likes you!" he says in a sing-songy voice.

I roll my eyes. "She does not." Will just hums to himself. "Er, Will?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have any gray ribbon maybe?" I ask shyly.

"Nico, gray is just not your color," Will says, snapping his fingers sassily. "Maybe try black ribbon. Or you know what would be better? Hot pink."

"Will!" I protest. "Just can you just get me some, please?"

Will smirks mischievously. "What's it worth to you?"

"Will, I swear, if you do not get me that ribbon, I will get up out of bed and do the hokey-pokey."

"Get up out of bed?" Will asks fake shock lacing his voice. "And doing the hokey-pokey? You wouldn't dare!"

"I would," I challenge him. We have a staring contest and I win. Will leaves the room again and comes back with a short length of gray ribbon.

"Blackmail does not become you, my friend," Will says solemnly.

"And solemness does not become you," I reply. Will chuckles and leaves the room with a hearty goodnight. But, as per usual, I don't sleep. I usually only sleep about once or twice a week, and I slept on Monday, so I should be good for the next days or so.

I pull out the drawing, roll it up, and tie it with the ribbon. Perfect. Now, what to do, what to do... Thirty minutes pass. One hour. At around 11:30 pm, I hear my window open and a familiar blonde peeks in.

"Merrily?" I ask. "What are you doing here? And how did you make it past Annabeth?"

"I told you," she says, plopping her backpack on the ground. "Three visits a day. I haven't done my third visit."

"Aren't you tired?" I prop myself up on my elbows, only slightly wincing in pain.

"Aren't you?" she retorts.

"Touche."

Merrily plops down on the edge of my bed. "You asked how I got past Annabeth?" she asks me. I nod. "Well, back home, my dad... well he was abusive. So I have a lot of experience doing this stuff."

For some reason, I couldn't find anything to say to this that wouldn't sound cocky so I didn't say anything at all.

"Oh, great, now you're going to think I'm a freak!" Merrily starts to cry and I instantly feel horrible. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I pull her into a hug and almost instantly, the sniffles stop.

"I don't think you're a freak," I whisper. I feel Merrily's crying slow down. After a while, her breathing evens and I know she's asleep. I subtly tuck the picture into her bag, being careful not to wake her.

Then I stare at the dark ceiling, the smell of the infirmary mixing pleasantly with Merrily's cherry scent. I begin to feel drowsy. I try to force myself to stay awake, but my body has other plans. I fall asleep, my face burying itself in Merrily's golden locks.


	3. Girl on Fire

Leo POV

Warning: Self-harm scenes. Do not read if you are sensitive to things like this.

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"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING EVANS?" Will yells, jolting me out of my sleep. Now, why I can't wake up in a normal way for once is beyond me. Cabin Nine is the closest to the infirmary, so this morning, I wake up to the sounds of Will's angry voice. "GET OUT MERRILY!" 

Merrily? Why would Will be yelling at her? I leap out of my bed and pull on a new shirt, then race out of the door. Upon arriving at the infirmary, I see Merrily and Nico in the same bed (fully clothed, thank the gods) and a very angry Will standing over the two with a vicious looking syringe in his hand. 

"Listen, Will," Nico is saying. "She just fell asleep. It's no biggie."

"No biggie?" Will shrieks. "You need your rest! You shouldn't be playing Cuddle Bears with Merrily here." Nico turns a light shade of pink and Merrily buries her head in Nico's chest. Suddenly, I feel a surge of jealousy, though I don't know why. I decide to break up the argument. 

"Yo, Will!" I say, plastering a fake grin on my face. "Listen, Super Sized McShizzle over here needs his beauty sleep, as does the rest of the camp, so could you keep it down Doc?"

Will has the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry man," he says. I flash him a grin and then leave, the smile sliding off my face. Last night's dreams had been horrible. Mi mami's death had replayed over and over again along with Tia Rosa's words. Diablo. I give an involuntary shudder and make my way down to Bunker Nine. 

Now, back to that feeling of jealousy. Why had I felt that way? It was far too soon after Calypso had died at the hands of Zeus, angry because she had escaped. My heart hurts at the thought, even though it has been almost a year. Yet. 

Merrily isn't like Calypso at all. Calypso had been practical and very even-tempered and always had an aura of melancholy about her. Merrily, on the other hand, is always buoyant and happy with life. To be honest, she reminds me of myself when I'm sad. Don't ask. 

Then I realize something. Merrily hadn't been wearing armor at Capture the Flag. Probably because she couldn't find anything that fit and allowed her to move her arms freely. I could understand that. At maybe 5, 2, there was hardly any armor that might fit her. 

I peer over the various blueprints on my walls. At present, I don't have any projects that necessarily need to be worked on. Yes, I have a few personal future projects that I should be working on; for instance, Piper's Christmas gift (not that she'd even care). I might as well make Merrily a tiny gift. Plus, I feel kind of guilty that none of us heard when she cried for help. 

So, I begin roughly outlining the armor, using the basic image I have of Merrily in my head. The armor would be somewhat slender, to accentuate her height and body type, yet strong enough to hopefully withstand a sword. 

After I make the blueprint, I pin it up on my wall and go and rummage through the various materials I have at hand. Screws, giant springs, molds of Festus's head, a random brick, a part of a quartz column... And finally, some metal. I throw aside the Stygian iron. That would be used for Nico's Christmas gift later. Imperial gold? No, that wouldn't work. Finally, I find a twisted and melted glob of iron and Celestial Bronze. 

Inspired, I begin to build.

\---------------------------------------------------------

I wipe the sweat and soot off of my face and lean back to admire my work. The part of the armor I can see is mostly silver, due to it being iron. However, the core of the armor is pure Celestial Bronze, which shows on the surface in small tendrils and coils. 

Then I check my watch. I've been down here for nearly six hours! If I had gotten down here at around 8 am... And no one had even noticed. After the war with Gaea and everything, I had come back to camp, a complete mess thanks to Lord Zeus, Sir Douchbagius. After the initial surprise and euphoria had worn off, life had gone more or less back to normal. 

Jason came by camp every so often to oversee the building of the shrines, but he only ever had eyes for Piper. Piper had her own things to attend to. People always came to her for relationship advice and she and Annabeth were almost inseparable. Piper had only talked to me yesterday because Nico was in the infirmary. Annabeth and Percy never stopped by to say hello or anything. Then again, I didn't know them all that well, so it was to be expected. Plus, the two of them had more important things to attend to. Frank and Hazel were usually in New Rome, and while I never expected for one second that Frank might try to contact me, I had hoped a little that maybe Hazel might take a few seconds out of her day to Iris message me or something. 

It was the same when I was on the Argo II. People only came to find me when they needed something to be fixed, or if it was a mandatory ship meeting. And then, of course, I even go as far as to blow myself up, and still, nobody even gives me a second glance! 

The scars on my back tingle as I stand up to go try and find a snack. But before I leave, I wipe the tears from my eyes and plaster that smile that took me years to perfect onto my face. As soon as I leave, I'm met my a bundle of blonde hair. 

"Leo!" she cries. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Well, I'm right here Miss Merry!" I grin. 

She smiles back. "I've been looking for someone to spar with, and the first person I thought of was you. I asked around your cabin and the rest of camp, but nobody knew where you were until I ran into Piper."

"'Course I'll spar with you," I say, that stupid grin still on my face. The two of us walk over to the arena. Merrily pulls out a small silver dagger and I pull a hammer from my tool belt. I gesture for her to strike first. 

Merrily darts to the left, one of my weak spots, so I deftly dive to one side and swing my hammer at her leg. For some reason, I don't want to hurt her at all. I never had any qualms with hurting my friends before. 

"You don't have any friends," my brain says.

"Shut up," I reply.

Merrily moves so fast so that by the end of five minutes, I'm bathed in a sweat. Finally, Merrily manages to knock my hammer from my hands. I feel my wrist snap and I stifle a shout. My hair lights on fire. 

Through the pain of my wrist, I notice Merrily. She's suddenly gone pale and is staring fixedly at my flaming hair. I quickly extinguish the flames.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask her gently, placing one hand on her shoulder. Merrily flinches away at my touch. I feel my heart breaking just a little. She's afraid of me. I order the tears in my eyes to stay put. "Listen, I-I'm sorry." I stutter. 

Merrily seems to snap out of it. "Oh," she says. "Don't worry, it's not your fault." She seems distracted when she says this and she wanders away. I gingerly get to my feet and make for the infirmary. But of course, I just have to run into Percy.

"Hey Perce," I say, giving him a half grin, even though, inside, my heart is breaking. 

"What did you do?" he yells at me. 

I take a step back, cradling my wrist protectively. "What do you mean man?" 

Percy looks furious and downright scary. "Merrily just ran back to the Athena cabin after training with you, crying! What did you do to her to make her cry?"

"Listen, Percy," I protest. "I don't know what I did wrong! I broke my wrist and my hair lit on fire. I dunno, maybe she was scared of the fire?" I ramble away nervously. I really don't want to get impaled by a sword.

Percy scowls at me. "Well, whatever you do, stay far away from her," he growls. "You're nothing but trouble Valdez." I feel tears pricking the edge of my eyes. I nod sullenly and quickly run back to Bunker Nine. 

Once inside, I let the tears freefall down my face as I wrap my wrist up with the bandages I keep there for my... episodes. Then I pull off my pants and grab a knife so that I'm sitting on the floor in my boxers. 

Still crying, I watch as the silver blade flashes across my tan skin, jutting across old scars. Useless. A Mistake. Diablo. Trouble. Nothing. The words echo through my brain. I can hear Tia Rosa screaming at me. "¡Llévatelo! ¡Es asesinado su madre! Niño del diablo." My foster father. "Fat ass! You're a mistake! You never should have been born!" Miss Teresa. "You useless child! You are a nothing! Why did I get stuck with you, you bastard!" I can feel the slaps, the belt lashing down on my back. 

Finally, the relapses end. My thigh is bleeding profusely. I wrap up my leg, wipe off the knife with a towel and lie down on my pallet, which I have in here for when I spend the night. For several blissful minutes, my mind and body are comfortingly numb. I don't feel anything. Which is how I like it.

Ever since I'd met Calypso, I felt as though I'd had something to live for. I'd stopped cutting. That irritating voice in my head disappeared. But then she died and it all came rushing back. The day she died, I relapsed. And hard. I wanted to die so badly, but then the images of Piper and Jason and everyone swam before my eyes and I knew I couldn't. So I flew back to camp, believing a lie. Now, I wish I died that day in Maine. 

But I had things to do. I was the head counselor. I had responsibilities. And I still loved my friends dearly, even if they might not love me. And I wasn't about to do that to little Harley. So, I pulled myself up off my bed, slapped a smile on my face, and went outside.

The sun hit me like a ton of bricks. Needless to say, I was not feeling very good. My wrist ached, my eyes burned, and my thigh was sore. 

"All those things are your own fault," my brain says.

"I know," I reply. I stride up to the dining pavilion where most of the camp already is. Jason and Piper are probably sucking face down at the lake. I dream up some tacos and burn a pretty good portion for my dad. 

"Please help me," I whisper and I watch the food burn. I go back to my seat where I eat in silence. Nyssa, Jake and everybody else is talking about the goings on of the day. Since I had been in Bunker Nine all day, I wouldn't have anything o contribute anyways. 

After dinner, I'm prepared to go back to Bunker Nine and work on Piper's gift for Christmas, when a finger taps me on the shoulder. I turn around to see a slightly guilty looking Merrily behind me. 

"Hey Leo," she says shyly. "Listen, I'm sorry for running off earlier. Piper told me you were missing for the rest of the day."

"Listen," I say seriously. "It's no big deal. It's my fault. I should've kept my emotions more in check."

"No," Merrily says. "It's mine. I shouldn't have overreacted."

"Why did you overreact?" I ask curiously. 

Merrily frowns at me. "None of your business," she answers curtly. "Anyway, would you like to come to visit Nico with me?" She squeezes my bandaged wrist. I give a yelp.

"Ow!"

"Oh my gosh, did I break your wrist?" she asks me.

"It's fine, I can work around it," I say, holding my wrist. 

"Not a chance," Merrily insists. "C'mon. Will can get you some ambrosia." I sigh and follow after her. I want to love her. But it hurts too much.

**Author's Note:**

> TADA there's the first chapter! Please review!


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